Catholic bishops in Poland have ruled out the possibility of blessing “same-sex unions” but remain open to blessing individuals with homosexual tendencies, only if they are “living in complete abstinence” of sexual activities.
The Polish Episcopal Conference released the statement on Dec. 21, just three days after the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a declaration that allowed nonliturgical blessings of “same-sex couples.” The Polish bishops’ statement did not expressly criticize the Vatican declaration but appeared to conflict with the guidance contained within it.
“In response to the question ‘Does the Church have the authority to bless same-sex unions?’ the answer is negative,” the Polish bishops’ statement read, citing a March 2021 “responsum” from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
“Since practicing sexual acts outside marriage, that is, outside the indissoluble union of a man and a woman open to the transmission of life, is always an offense against the will and wisdom of God expressed in the Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue, people who are in such a relationship cannot receive a blessing,” the statement added. “This applies in particular to people in same-sex relationships.”
African priests fill American pulpits as ‘reverse missionaries,’ revitalizing parishes
On a sunny morning at St. Benedict the African Catholic Church on Chicago’s South Side, the Rev. Rukulatwa Kiiguta stepped into the center of the sanctuary to preach.
“My brothers and sisters, yes, we do have this mission of saving souls by bringing them to Christ,” he told the assembly, looking around at the 50-odd people gathered in the Black Catholic parish, many of whom nodded as he spoke.
Kiiguta moved to the U.S. from his home in Tanzania for exactly that reason. After meeting an American priest who had traveled to East Africa to recruit seminarians, Kiiguta joined the ranks of about 15 African priests in Chicago. He sees his work in the Englewood neighborhood – where many families struggle to make ends meet, but Catholics pour their hearts into their parish – as God’s will.
This missionary’s story reflects a fundamental shift in the American Catholic church. After decades of U.S. missionaries traveling to Africa to convert and preach, the trend is reversing: Across the country, parishes now rely on the ministry of international priests, many from East Africa and Nigeria.
The Archdiocese of Chicago, one of the biggest American dioceses, is a case in point – almost two-thirds of its priests under 50 were born outside the U.S.
It’s difficult to estimate the number of foreign missionaries in the U.S. because their paths are so diverse. But recent studies by Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) estimated the U.S. hosts some 6,600 international priests and more than 4,000 international nuns.
Meanwhile, the number of American priests is tumbling: there are 10,000 fewer priests now than there were two decades ago.
Sister Thu Do, a research associate at CARA, described the trend as “reverse missionary action.” She said the number of international priests and sisters has likely grown since the Georgetown center’s last study in 2019.
“Because of the shortage of vocations in the priesthood as well as in religious life, religious institutes and dioceses here in the U.S. go outside of the U.S. to recruit new members,” she said.
Bengal CM joins Cathedral Jubilee Year Door inaugural
The Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee joined Archbishop Thomas D’Souza of Kolkata at the solemn ‘Jubilee Year Door’ inaugural at the Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary in Kolkata during a Christmas Eve function on December 24,2023.
After unveiling of the Christmas crib and offering floral tribute to baby Jesus, Archbishop D’Souza and Chief Minister Banerjee inaugurated the Jubilee Year Door of the Cathedral.
Bengali writers stress genuine literature to fight AI
The need for encouraging genuine literature and art to withstand the onslaught of Artificial Intelligence (AI)was stressed at the launch of a cultural hub in a West Bengal town.
“While humans struggle to find the right word to describe a situation, AI might do this in a jiffy,” warns Madhumita Acharya, a professor of St Xavier’s College, Autonomous Raghabpur Campus. Acharya expressed fears that AI might soon encroach into literature.
Bishop appointed for Khadki Syro-Malankara diocese
Bethany Father Mathai Kadavil has been appointed as the new bishop of the Khadki diocese of the Syro-Malankara Church.
The appointment was announced in the St Mary’s Cathedral, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram December 12. Earlier, Pope Francis approved the name of the 60-year-old priest after the Synod of Bishops of the Syro Malankara Major Archiepiscopal Church had elected as a bishop.
Pope meets with delegate to Syro-Malabar Church
Pope Francis on December 11 received in audience Jesuit Archbishop Cyril Vasil, the Pontifical Delegate to the Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly, on the eve of the latter’s departure for Kerala, southern India, the base of the Syro-Malabar Church.
Jesus came to spread peace, unity: Goa chief minister
Chief Minister of Goa Pramod Pandurang Sawant joined government officials and civil service officers to celebrate Christmas at Pilar Pilgrim Centre in the western Indian state.
“Jesus came into the world to spread the message of peace, love and unity,” Sawant told the participants of the Festive Christmas High Tea on December 25 at the center, some 10 km southeast of Panaji, the state capital.
Sawant, an ayurveda medical practitioner serving as Goa’s eleventh chief minister since 2019 noted that “truth and service are two important messages in the Bible which tells us that service is the greatest form of love.”
The 50-year-old politician noted that harmony and unity has been Go’s identity. “In India, often there have been attempts to bring division among people on the basis of caste and religion, however, such attempts have been thwarted by the people of Goa. Since 1961, the rest of India sees Goa as the beacon of unity,” he added.
The host, Father Nazareth Fernandes, the superior general of the Society of Pilar, said that “Christmas is the celebration of peace, and Jesus the prince of peace, brings love, joy and peace from the Father.” He further said that “the Church becomes the visible face of Jesus Christ in her service to humankind.”
He also claimed that the members of the Pilar Society “are the visible face of Goans throughout India and abroad to carry the message of peace, harmony, joy and love that exists among Goans, although we may belong to different creeds.”
Hundreds of students drive Rohingya out of temporary shelter in Aceh
Hundreds of students in the province of Aceh, western Indonesia, invaded a shelter on December 27 that temporarily housed more than a hundred Rohingya refugees, driving them out in what is but the latest incident due to local hostility towards the refugees, who belong to a persecuted stateless Muslim minority from Myanmar.
Since mid-November, more than 1,500 Rohingya fled refugee camps in Bangladesh to reach Aceh province by sea in makeshift crafts. According to the United Nations, this is the largest migration of Rohingya to Indonesia since 2015.
Under the slogan “Aceh’s Students Denied Access to the Rohingyas”, hundreds of people demanded that these asylum seekers leave from their temporary shelter in the Balee Meuseuraya building and be relocated elsewhere.
Even though most of vulnerable refugees are families, especially women and children, the students dragged them into vans and pickups and drove them to another place not far away, about a kilometre from the previous location.
About 135 Rohingya, who landed on an Aceh beach on 10 December, were subjected of this action, after.
“We were able to move these Rohingya as most of our compatriots in Aceh have already expressed concern and were against their presence here,” said one of the coordinators of Wednesday’s action.
Outrage over parish council’s “barbaric” punishment to questioning youth
A Kerala parish council’s “barbaric” punishment to a youth during Christmas midnight Mass has triggered condemnation in the southern Indian state.
“Today I heard the news that the young man was brought to his knees to apologize. The sting of the action still hasn’t gone away, and the shame of it coming from a religious group that I belong to is overwhelming me,” laments Father Aji Puthiyaparambil, who left active priestly ministry a few months ago to fight corruption in the Church.
The 46-year-old priest says the “barbaric punishment” took place on Christmas, the “birthday of the one who forgave those who insulted him even in his last breath.”
Earlier, marunandanmala-yalee.com, a YouTube channel, reported the incident with the headline, “A parish gives barbaric punishment to a youth. Kerala is shocked.”
According to the December 27 report, the parish committee of St Andrews Church, Karumkulam, had asked a young parishioner named Minroose to walk on his knees from the church’s main door to the altar before apologizing.
The YouTube channel shows the man walking on his knees before apologizing from the pulpit. The man, who claimed he was an illiterate fisherman, said the committee had asked him to apologize in the church for questioning its decision on a church property.
87 tribal Christians buried months after Manipur riots
Thousands of Christians paid their last respects to 87 indigenous Christians during a mass funeral on Dec. 20, eight months after sectarian violence rocked India’s hilly state of Manipur.
The victims from the Kuki and Zomi communities were buried in separate places in Churachandpur district, where the strife started on May 3, claiming 200 lives.
“We buried 87 people in two different places in two sessions,” Barnabas Simte, district president of the All-Manipur Catholic Union, told UCA News on Dec. 20.
“The bodies included those airlifted from capital Imphal and those kept in the district hospital,” Simte added.
The government airlifted 60 bodies of indigenous Kukis from Imphal on Dec. 14 as the authorities feared transporting them by road could fuel fresh tension.
Their burial was sanctioned on Nov. 28 by the Supreme Court, India’s top court.
According to government records, 175 bodies mostly of indigenous people were preserved in mortuaries.
The top court ordered the government to hand over the bodies to their relatives and dispose of the unidentified bodies.